Kipnis met Bruce through former Tribe outfielder Drew Stubbs, who spent four years as Bruce’s outfield companion in Cincinnati. When Bruce learned of the Mets’ progress on the trade front, he reached out to Kipnis, who crossed his fingers as Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff pulled the proper negotiating levers.

By the late evening of Aug. 9, hours after Michael Brantley suffered an ankle injury, the Indians had sealed the deal. The price tag? A low-level prospect named Ryder Ryan and a hefty, but worthwhile bill for about $3.7 million, a sum the Yankees, of all teams, preferred not to inherit.

“Look at how that worked out,” Kipnis told The Athletic.

Bruce recorded 40 percent of the Indians’ hits in Game 1 of the ALDS, a 4-0 Tribe triumph Thursday night. He delivered a double, a two-run homer and a sacrifice fly. And he only infiltrated Terry Francona’s lineup because he cleared waivers and fit the part when Brantley crumbled to the outfield grass two months ago.

“I was pretty shocked at how we got him,” Allen said, “and that he was a guy who didn’t get moved at the deadline. Once Brantley went down, they filled the need pretty quickly.”

Bruce, of course, brushed aside questions about how he wound up in Cleveland, instead focusing on his satisfaction at landing with a team that took off like a NASA vehicle upon his arrival.

“I couldn’t have fallen into a better situation,” he said. “Obviously, when you get traded and you’re in trade rumors, it’s usually a contender. For whatever reason, I ended up here.”

As the non-waiver deadline arrived at the end of July, Bruce boasted a .263/.326/.523 slash line, with 27 home runs. He carried an expiring contract and figured to be an attractive trade candidate, but nothing materialized.

The Indians, meanwhile, weren’t motivated to make a significant splash. They didn’t see a glaring weakness in need of an upgrade, so they snagged Joe Smith from the Blue Jays to provide the bullpen with another layer of depth, but sat tight otherwise.

The front office certainly wasn’t thrilled with the club’s output — they sat at 48-45 after a dreadful West Coast swing after the All-Star break — but they assumed a reversal of fortune was imminent.

Still, when opportunity knocked, the Indians’ brain trust answered. A guy with 270 home runs to his name was at the door.

“I’m surprised there wasn’t more interest in him at the deadline,” Kipnis said. “The guy’s a pretty big bat in the lineup. You saw it; he carried us (in Game 1) when our lineup was struggling a little.

“The front office has been hitting on all cylinders. This was definitely a good one for us.”

— Zack Meisel

***

The Grizzlies and Cavs would have met early in the NBA playoffs last season under a different format. (David Richard/USA Today Sports)

NBA considers scrapping playoff system for 1-to-16 model

If NBA general managers had their wish granted last season, the Cavs would’ve entered the playoffs as the sixth seed and perhaps faced all Western Conference teams in the postseason.

Sound too strange to be true? For now. But maybe not for long.

More than one-fourth of the league’s general managers voted they’d like to see the league eliminate conference seedings and reseed playoff teams 1-16 based solely on record. It would be a dramatic upheaval of the current system and could cause logistical travel nightmares, since a team theoretically could have to fly coast-to-coast multiple times for every round of the playoffs.

But maybe it isn’t as far-fetched as it once seemed, particularly since the league already took an incremental step in this direction regarding All-Star weekend. Beginning this season, All-Star teams will be selected by a captain’s pick — playground style — regardless of conference affiliation.

Perhaps even more telling, nearly one-third of all GMs in this same anonymous poll voted last year they would like to see lottery reform. Less than 12 months later, the Board of Governors approved reshaping teams’ odds of winning the lottery.

Cavs guard Dwyane Wade believes 1-to-16 seeding is inevitable.

“I’m waiting for that day when it’s going to happen,” Wade said. “I think it would be great for the game to have the best 16 teams in the playoffs. You can’t make everybody happy, but I think that’s one thing that would make some of the teams that win 50 games some years and don’t make the playoffs, they deserve (it).”

To be clear, Wade’s scenario has never happened. Since the league expanded to 16 playoff qualifiers, no franchise has ever won 50 games and missed the playoffs. But two have come close.

The Suns won 48 games in 2014 and stayed home while six of the eight playoff teams in the East finished with an equal or worse record to Phoenix – the Hawks even qualified that year with a losing record. Similarly, the Warriors won 48 games in 2008 and missed the playoffs while three teams in the East made it despite records at .500 or below.

Proponents of the 1-16 rules change argue that for too long, the East has enjoyed far too easy of a path to the postseason — and in the bigger picture an easier path to the Finals — while West teams are left to destroy each other for three rounds. It’s clear the West has remained a superior conference for more than a decade and that’s not likely to change now after the additions of Paul George, Jimmy Butler and Carmelo Anthony this offseason. But reseeding doesn’t always alter the teams that get in.

The eighth seed in each conference last season, for example, each finished with a .500 record. During the Cavs’ championship season, the East actually had better depth. The 42-40 Bulls were left home, and the 41-41 Rockets squeaked in as the eighth seed in the West.

Historically, however, most of the egregious snubs have occurred in the West.

The first time the Cavs lost to the Warriors in the Finals, the 45-win Thunder were left home after losing a tiebreaker to the Pelicans, and two teams with losing records made the playoffs in the East. Those same Suns who were denied in ’14 were previously denied in 2009 when they won 46 games and missed the playoffs and two .500 teams and the 39-43 Pistons advanced in the East.

Before a new format can be adopted, the league must devise new rules for tiebreakers. It’s murky, but under the current system, it seems the Cavs would’ve lost a three-way tiebreaker to the Clippers, but topped the Raptors to finish as the sixth seed. The Grizzlies and Hawks would’ve tied for 11th, but a number of the current tiebreakers used don’t apply.

It’s feasible the Cavs could’ve faced the Grizzlies in the first round last season, followed by third-seeded Rockets and the second-seeded Spurs in the third round before reaching the Warriors in the Finals — provided they survived such a gantlet.

Given that the Board of Governors would have to approve such a drastic change, the league is probably at least two years away from such an overhaul — if one ever occurs at all.

“One day it will happen,” Wade said, “but in its own time.”

— Jason Lloyd

***

Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski is on an early path to great success. (Aaron Doster/USA Today Sports)

Zach Werenski draws comparisons to a young Drew Doughty

Brad Shaw was a St. Louis Blues assistant coach in 2008 when an 18-year-old Drew Doughty played as a rookie for the Los Angeles Kings.

Shaw and many others recognized the defenseman’s prodigious talents in those early years and how easy Doughty made the game look while playing the most unforgiving position for a youngster.

A season ago, Shaw witnessed similar traits in a teenage rookie he coached in Columbus. There was Zach Werenski quarterbacking the Blue Jackets’ first-unit power play and delivering poised, polished performances that belied his age at winning time.

“Z’s impact to the team reminds me of Drew Doughty when he started in L.A.,” Shaw told The Athletic on Tuesday. “He was similarly involved in so many big plays offensively and defensively. He just seems to relish the big moments and steps up in them.”

Doughty, 27, has evolved into one of the game’s best and most highly decorated defensemen — a two-time Stanley Cup champion with the Kings and a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Canada.

As the 20-year-old Werenski opens his second season, Shaw is eager to see where his ability and humility take him.

“That’s the beauty and the excitement for me,” Shaw said. “Where is he going to be seven, eight years down the road? We all want to see where he takes his game.”

Werenski set numerous franchise records, registering 11 goals and 36 assists, in helping the Blue Jackets to their best season. In many years, his effort would have earned him a Calder Trophy. He settled for third place behind wunderkind Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine, but his caliber of play impressed a league and inspired a team.

Shaw marveled at the character Werenski demonstrated in Game 3 of the Penguins’ series, returning to the ice after getting hit in the face with a puck shot by Phil Kessel. It was later revealed Werenski fractured an orbital bone and a bone in his sinus cavity.

His courageous return was cut short because his right eye swelled shut. The Blue Jackets lost Game 3 in overtime.

“It’s really rare to have a young guy mean that much to his team,” Shaw said. “I think we saw when he left that series against Pittsburgh what a hole he left when he wasn’t there.”

Werenski will reunite with Seth Jones, 23, on the Blue Jackets’ first defensive pairing. Jones had his own remarkable season, notching career highs in goals (12) and assists (30) while feeding off the play of a partner he helped mentor.

Shaw believes the two defensemen will push each other to elevate their play. The assistant thinks Werenski had that effect on the Blue Jackets’ entire defensive corps.

“I think what Z did was raise everybody’s levels,” Shaw said. “He helped us on the ice, but the standard he set in certain areas makes everybody strive for that. … He does things that guys seven, eight years in the league have trouble doing.”

Shaw spent part of his summer producing clips to show players returning for training camp. He was struck by how many important goals and plays Werenski supplied in the third periods of tight games.

The Blue Jackets’ assistant is interested to see how the defenseman deals with increased expectations not only within the organization but around the league.

“He will have to compartmentalize that and still have the same focus game to game and day to day,” Shaw said. “That might be one of his biggest challenges going forward.

“But Z has a chance to be one of the greats in the game and he couldn’t be more humble, more polite, more respectful.”

— Tom Reed

***

Ohio State wide receiver Johnnie Dixon (1) runs after a catch. The receivers and their coach Zach Smith take a lot of heat on Twitter for their lack of dynamic play. (Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today Sports)

There’s one thing that simply cannot be disputed about Ohio State wide receivers coach Zach Smith: He’s the all-time leader in Twitter trash-talking for college football assistants.

He’s on Twitter a lot, which means he sees all the complaints.

And apparently he doesn’t care.

Though he’s the first to concede that he’d like to see more production from his wideouts, Smith said he doesn’t think twice about what he reads on the social-media site despite being inundated with personal attacks and complaints the last month.

“I think it’s a work in progress, and it always will be,” Smith said of his receivers. “There’s going to be criticism all the time and that’s for the critics to worry about. I don’t really mind it or care. It’s actually a positive because it gives my guys motivation, but other than that, it’s pretty worthless to me.”

Ohio State’s passing attack has been the team’s top concern, which might seem weird considering the Buckeyes rank No. 13 in the country in passing offense with 326 yards per game. However, that statistic is deceiving because the Buckeyes just racked up 827 total passing yards the past two weeks against defenseless opponents UNLV and Rutgers.

J.T. Barrett has shouldered a lot of the blame for Ohio State’s passing attack, which faltered against Oklahoma. But there is something to be said about the receivers, whether it’s about them struggling to get open, dropped passes or just a lack of dynamic playmaking ability.

Given how Ohio State has recruited at the position, it’s kind of puzzling that a receiver hasn’t come out and asserted himself as a go-to playmaker.

Where is the next Devin Smith? Michael Thomas?

Maybe he’s coming. But right now, Smith deserves some criticism.

“Now, we do need to put a good product on the field, my guys do need to perform and they do need to be developed,” he said. “And I think they’re getting there, and they have done that. It’s all part of the process. We just have to keep getting better, keep working so at the end of the day, when we get on the field Saturday, we can make the plays to win the game. That’s all we’re trying to do.”

Hue Jackson made a recruiting call to Bryce Treggs this week, and that’s part of the reason Treggs ended up leaving the Eagles’ practice squad to sign with the Browns.

Treggs becomes the sixth wide receiver added to the active roster since Sept. 2. Sammie Coates was acquired in a trade a day before Kasen Williams and Reggie Davis were added on waivers. Rashard Higgins was cut after the waiver claims, then re-signed from the practice squad two weeks later. Jordan Leslie was cut Sept. 2, then re-signed to the practice squad and promoted three days later. Leslie was waived-injured this week to create a spot for Treggs.

Round and round it goes. The pursuit of help at wide receiver has gone about like most other things have gone for the NFL’s only team that’s yet to hold a lead through four games. Corey Coleman, the first draft pick of this Sashi Brown-led regime, is out until at least November with a broken hand. Kenny Britt, who got a $10.5 million signing bonus in March, has eight catches in four games, had a drop last week that turned into an interception and might not play this week due to injury. Duke Johnson, a running back, leads the Browns with 20 receptions and has double the catches of the next player in line.

So, with the Browns scrambling again to find help for 21-year-old rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer, it felt an appropriate time to go back further than a few weeks and examine how this regime has handled the quarterback and wide receiver positions in its 21 months on the job.

Jackson and Treggs first met in early 2016, when the Browns coach traveled to the University of California for the pro day workout of Jared Goff, who ended up going No. 1 overall in the 2016 draft. The Browns had the No. 2 pick, but before the draft traded the pick. They traded down again on draft night before selecting Coleman at No. 15, and in 2016 they kept all four wide receivers they drafted on the 53-man roster. Brian Hartline was released in the spring of 2016, and Taylor Gabriel was waived just before the season. Hartline eventually retired. Gabriel went on to win a role with the Falcons.

Josh McCown is quarterbacking the Jets this week, but with the release of Johnny Manziel basically a matter of timing when Brown and Jackson took over in their respective jobs, he was the veteran quarterback on the roster. The Browns signed Robert Griffin III and then drafted Cody Kessler in the third round in 2016 — and all three started a game in the first three weeks of 2016. Kevin Hogan was first added via the practice squad, then Charlie Whitehurst was added as an emergency backup.

The Browns got five picks in the trade that allowed the Eagles to select Carson Wentz. They’ve traded four of them — the fifth is a second-rounder in 2018 — and with the picks acquired in those trades they’ve selected three wide receivers, Coleman, Ricardo Louis and Jordan Payton, and two quarterbacks, Kizer and Kessler.

The trade that allowed the Texans to select Deshaun Watson in this year’s draft led to the Browns selecting Jabrill Peppers and acquiring the Texans’ first-round pick next year. They already had the Texans’ second-round pick from the Brock Osweiler trade last March. Osweiler was cut on Sept. 1, making him the third veteran quarterback the Browns released this calendar year. They had moved on from Griffin and McCown before the start of the league year. Hogan is now the backup and Kessler is the No. 3, and it’s believed the Browns are the first team to have a quarterback room without a player who’s won a game as a starter in the NFL.

It’s too early to declare Wentz or Watson as a huge hit or the absolute answer for their respective franchises. Kizer might eventually be that guy with the Browns, too. But it’s also not too early to wonder if the Browns will be back at or near the top of the draft next spring — and also back in the quarterback business.

Kessler started camp as the starter, then Osweiler started two preseason games before Kizer took over. At the receiver spot, the Browns last March let Terrelle Pryor walk and released Andrew Hawkins, who eventually retired. Britt was the only free agent of consequence added; Leslie and Rannell Hall had signed futures contracts. The Browns didn’t draft any wide receivers in 2017 and didn’t utilize the waiver wire through the preseason, instead choosing to let their young players try to grow and prove themselves.

“You can always go back, as I told you before, whether it is the draft or free agency … there are always opportunities you wish you capitalized on that you didn’t,” Brown said this week. “At the same time, our wide receivers can play better, and I think they will. We are not going to overreact too much early. We were active around cut down period in that unit. We brought (Britt) in obviously in the offseason, and then Corey broke his hand. None of those are excuses.

“At the end of the day, no one is going to wait for us to get healthy. No one is going to wait for us to be consistent in our performance. That group will get better. I think you have seen some guys have some performances that raise some eyebrows in a positive direction. We need that consistency in that group, and it will come. It will come.”

The Browns haven’t been able to run the ball to simplify things for Kizer, and the receivers aren’t getting open. So, the revolving door remains open. Though Treggs said the Eagles offered to match the salary the Browns were offering to keep him on their practice squad, he saw opportunity with the Browns.

“I want to get on the field,” Treggs said. “I want to play and I feel like there is a lot of young talent here and something to build on and we can really build as a unit. I am excited for that. The Eagles matched the money. They weren’t going to get me on the field.”

With the Browns, there’s an open call for guys who can get open and create after the catch. Treggs didn’t arrive in Cleveland until 11 p.m. Tuesday night, but Sunday he’s likely to be in uniform and to have a chance to make the kinds of plays that haven’t been made in the first four games.